


But At Least You Fell To Me

by IceQueenJules26



Series: Walk on Water or Drown [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Challenger Ash, Elite Four Member Misty, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, In-universe Fangirls/boys, Misty and Pikachu's relationship is the best, The Elite Four (Pokemon), supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-21 09:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21297527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceQueenJules26/pseuds/IceQueenJules26
Summary: Ash arrives at the Elite Four and for Misty, a lot is about to change...
Relationships: Kasumi | Misty/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: Walk on Water or Drown [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533257
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20
Collections: Pokéshipping Week 2019





	But At Least You Fell To Me

**Author's Note:**

> And here it is, the sequel to "We All Fall To Pieces"! It's my fic for day 4, which I substituted to "In-Universe Pokeshippers" since I had no idea for the original prompt. I hope you guys like it and have fun reading it! There probably will be another small piece for this series on day 7.

It took Misty a few days to find her way back to the world of the living, as Cynthia put it. And in true best-friend-fashion, she gave her a task as well: to check her pokegear.

She found multiple unanswered calls waiting for her. Mostly from her sisters, which was kind of obvious, even Brock and Tracey she had reckoned with, but when she scrolled further down the list she found a name she’d never expected to see there - 

“Delia? Who’s Delia?” Cyn asked, looking over her shoulder, and Misty frowned, trying to figure out why  _ she _ out of all people would call her. “Ash’s mum,” she answered absentmindedly, completely focussed on the screen of her pokegear, she didn’t even realize she had said his name without involuntarily flinching. 

“You should call her back,” Cynthia decided and Misty looked up in surprise. “Really?” 

Her best friend just nodded, so she took a deep breath and clicked the “Call back” button. 

“Yes, this is Delia Ketchum, how can I help you?”

For a second, Misty’s heart stopped and she felt like she was choking, but a calm, encouraging look from her best friend soothed the anxiety that had her in its clammy, wicked hands. 

“Hi, Delia. It’s-” 

“Misty, dear, I’m so glad you called back - how are you doing?”

Tears clouded her sight within seconds as she listened to Delia’s soothing voice. It was ridiculous, but she had missed the woman so much; more than she probably even noticed with her longing for Ash overshadowing everything else. “I’m fine, Delia-”

She got interrupted yet again.

“I can hear your voice breaking, dear.” 

It was a gentle reminder of her deceptiveness, but also of the relationship she’d always had with Ash’s mum. The woman could read her like a book, and they were both accurately aware of it, even after years. 

“I’m… I don’t know, Delia,” Misty said, new tears in her eyes and a sob slowly inching up her throat. That was when a sudden realization hit her - she could trust this woman. With her life, and certainly with some secrets, even if they involved her son. “I don’t know anything anymore. Or - maybe I just don’t want to. I’ve been heartbroken over him for so long, I had finally managed to suppress it, everything, and now -” 

The sob broke free now, and Misty closed her eyes as Cynthia calmly pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered into her best friend’s hair but they both knew it was just a phrase. There was no proof she’d ever stop hurting - no proof she’d ever be okay again. 

“Now he’s back?” Delia prompted softly and and another sob raked through Misty’s body, which was all the confirmation she needed. 

“Can you explain something to me, Misty?”

Misty sniffed audibly, somehow surprised enough to stop wailing. “Sure?” It sounded more like a question than an answer.

“Why did you break up with him?” The line went silent for a moment, then Delia swallowed loud enough to hear it. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer, it’s just - he never told me, and I was too afraid to ask.”

“We just - we wanted different things, Delia. Our dreams just didn’t add up and - his calls became rare, and it was obvious he wanted to leave me. I just saved him the trouble,” Misty answered, surprisingly calm and collected. It was like she had finally reached the point of numbness, like the pain had finally become so bad and so omnipresent her body was tired of it. 

“But you didn’t stop -” Delia interrupted herself, obviously unsure of how to say it. She was trading dangerous water here, and Misty could feel her wariness, as if approaching a wild animal. 

“No.”

The word hung in the air between them, heavy and significant before Delia gasped. 

“Maybe,” she said with feigned calmness, but Misty could feel something bubbling just below the surface, “seeing him again isn’t such a bad idea.” 

It was just after she’d hung up that Misty realized she never asked the other woman what she knew about her son’s reappearance.

__

  
  


The next days practically flew by for Misty. She buried herself in paperwork and training of both her pokemon and herself. She hardly noticed the time passing, even forgot to eat a few times; and she was glad her best friend paid close attention to her, otherwise she probably would’ve starved herself by accident. 

Around a week after the disastrous interview Ash challenged and won against Blue, the new Viridian City Gym leader. He send Ash on his way to the elite 4 with a wink and a “send her my best” that had Ash bite his lower lip in something close to anger. Both the comment and Ash’s sour reaction to it made no sense to her, but she shrugged it off. Even as he once again mentioned her name in the aftermatch interview she stayed calm and collected and was kind of proud of herself for that. 

When asked Ash revealed he planned to make it to the Indigo Plateau as fast as possible, within the week at the latest, and while the new-found numbness made it seem like she couldn’t care less to Misty herself, Cynthia almost tripped over herself with worry and started walking on eggshells around her. Misty was a bit miffed about it, but understood her friend enough to appreciate the notion even though it wasn’t needed. 

Misty almost didn’t catch it when Ash finally arrived at the plateau a few days later. Her self-proclaimed social media abstency had ended, so she allowed herself a quick check of what had transpired over her absence - and she was in no way prepared for what she found. 

Hundreds upon hundreds of tags and mentions in posts and articles. Personal messages about Ash, about how she was doing from complete strangers, but also from old acquaintances she hadn’t spoken to in some time. 

Apparently, without people having any idea of what had transpired between them, she was in the middle of a fan-favourite ship - a ship of her and Ash. They called it Pokeshipping, and they had all kinds of theories and ideas about what was going on at the moment. To be fair, Ash had given them a lot to go on; but still she was shocked by the quantity - and the quality - of people being interested and invested in her relationship with Ash. 

It hurt her, like a prick of a needle every time people said he loved her and that they’d get together if they weren’t already; a needle that transformed more and more into a sword the more she realized how that was nothing but wishful thinking. She had no idea what to make out of the sudden interest he seemed to have in her, but she knew damn well it wasn’t  _ that _ . 

Completely engrossed in her social media she didn’t notice the commotion outside until Cynthia barged through her door without knocking. “Misty, damnit, are you deaf? We need to get in position. _ Now _ .”

Misty looked up, confused; her hair disheveled and not even properly dressed. “Why? Who’s there?”

Cynthia threw her arms into the air in exasperation. “Who do you think?? It’s Ash. And he seems well prepared and pretty determined. He’ll be in your room in no time.”

Misty took a sharp breath. 

It was time. 

__

Things had changed a lot for the Elite four over the years - the matches were broadcasted over national tv and the internet now, for example - but the most important part was still that challenger and challenged were still alone in the room during the match, and it scared Misty to death. 

Not that she was scared of Ash or anything. She knew he’d never physically hurt her. Still - being alone with her ex boyfriend for longer periods of time definitely didn’t show up on her to-do list. 

There was also the fact that the members were supposed to spend the time the challenger needed in the previous rooms in complete isolation. Cynthia and her were known to bend the rules a bit, staying together for longer than typically allowed, but today they really took it to the max. Misty know she’d go mad in anticipation and Cyn understood her without words, so she stayed until the second ding - meaning Ash was on his way to Agatha’s room. 

Since Misty had taken over Lorelei’s spot in the Elite four they had repeatedly changed the previously so stone-set order they had to be beaten in. At the moment Misty was the fourth and last station before the champ, and hardly anyone even came through to her. 

Cynthia had not had to fight once since she came from Sinnoh, and Misty was unbeaten in her career as an Elite four member.

That didn’t change that she was more than anxious about Ash’s arrival in her room - and she had no doubts that he would. She knew that if he had his mind set on something, nothing would be able to stop him, not even Agatha with her creepy ghost pokemon and strong attack combinations. 

Still, the ding implying he had beaten her came even sooner than anticipated. 

She took a long breath, trying to calm herself down, then her door opened and a stoic mask covered all her real emotions - 

but not for long. 

Within seconds there was the sound of paws on the floor, Ash’s voice calling for his partner - then Pikachu came running in at top speed, right towards Misty. “Pikachupiiiiiii!” he called out before he jumped up into Misty’s arms, snuggling in to her as close as possible. 

He made blissful sounds as she stroked him and held him close, and she couldn’t help the tears rising to her eyes. “Pikachu,” she said quietly, almost breathlessly, he murmured another “Pikachupi” back as she closed her eyes, savouring the moment. She had missed him so much. 

It took them a while to let to of each other, and even then Pikachu didn’t climb back down. Instead he sat down on her shoulder facing forward - where his trainer was already waiting, looking at them with a soft expression. “Misty,” he said, and the way her name rolled swiftly and melodious from his tongue like he was meant to say it sent a pleasant shiver down her spine.

Damn him for having the same effect on her even now, after years. 

“Ash,” she greeted him with a slight nod. A lot was left unsaid between them as Ash wordlessly gesticulated to the cameras, indicating that they should talk later, when they weren’t being watched. 

Misty silently thanked him with another nod, but didn’t miss the way he mouthed “I missed you”. Instead of reacting she bit her lower lip to keep the rising tears at bay - and waited for Ash to officially challenge her. 

___

The match went by in a blur. Misty could hardly even recall all the moves she had tried or the pokemon she had chosen; the only thing she knew was that Pikachu had sat idly on her shoulder the whole time, refusing to fight against her. 

It had been a hard fight, but in the end Ash had barely pulled through. When he went to move past her he hugged her, tightly, hiding his face in the crock of her neck even though he was taller than her. “I missed you so much, Mist,” he whispered, quietly enough the microphones wouldn’t pick up on it. Tears were threatening to fall at the intimate way he said her name, no, his personal, special nickname for her; a name he’d only ever used with love in his voice - like now. She closed her eyes, let her head sink onto his and took a deep breath. He smelled like his shampoo, citrus, but also like earth and something indescribable, something that was just entirely  _ his _ . 

When he let go and took a step back she realized there were tears in his eyes as well, but he still smiled at her, maturely and different but somehow still the Ash from years ago - still  _ her _ Ash. 

For a while they just looked each other in the eyes and Misty was entirely unable to move. She was drowning in clear brown water, the feeling familiar yet foreign and so entirely consuming she couldn’t breathe. Then he broke the illusion by looking to his partner, and Misty was left gasping for air. 

“You remember what we talked about, buddy?” he asked and Pikachu, still perched on her shoulder, nodded decisively. “Pikapi, pikachupi pikachu,” he said as he snuggled to her cheek once more, then he hopped over to his partner’s shoulder. 

“He said we’ll see you soon,” Ash informed her with a warm look to his friend before turning to Misty once again. “And we will. Just you wait.” There was something burning in his look, something passionate and raw, and all she could do was nod quietly, not trusting her voice. 

Then Ash went on and Misty allowed herself to break down.

___

  
  


After a few minutes of crying and trying to calm herself down she came back to her senses. She went to change and freshen up, then made her way to the Champion’s room. Contrary to the matches against the Elite Four the one against the Champion was open for public, challengers were even encouraged to bring friends and family as support. 

When she stepped into the huge arena she could hardly believe her eyes. While it was quite the usual that there were some spectators during those matches, she had never seen that many fans in the arena. It was buzzing with conversations, the air heavy with anticipation, but a sudden silence waved over the stands as the first fans recognized her in the hallway open for the Elite Four members. 

Agathe, Bruno and Lance were already seated in their assigned seats and offered her applause for the match, in which the fans quickly tuned in. Both Cynthia and Ash, previously deeply in conversation, turned around to check what the fuss was about, and for some reason Misty blushed as she felt Ash’s eyes on her. She hadn’t done it intentionally, but now she realized that she had subconsciously chosen the same outfit she had worn on their journey over a decade ago. She’d filled out since then, so it now worked a lot differently, highlighting her skinny waist and her bust. 

Ash’s eyes burned her skin as he looked her over, basically ravished her with his looks alone. Cynthia raised an eyebrow in question, but Misty just shrugged and she let it go. 

She was on her way to her seat with the other Elite Four members when she heard her name being called from the field, which was a bit lower than the stands. When she looked down again Ash had come over to her side, gesticulating to the stairs that led to the field. 

The fans, previously pretty quiet, broke out in whispered chatter as she walked down the stairs to hear what Ash had to say to her. 

He took her hand when she approached, gently interlacing their fingers and Misty found herself blushing yet again, thrown off guard by the fact that firstly, it just felt  _ right _ , and secondly, the pain was gone. As she looked into Ash’s eyes she couldn’t deny the fact that there was _ love  _ there, and it filled her to the brim with warmth, mending her broken heart back together piece by piece.

_ What the fuck is happening? _

“Misty,” Ash started and Pikachu on his shoulder nodded encouragingly, “Would you do me the honours of sitting in my box?”

It was a simple request, even in her role as an Elite four member, but as his brown eyes gazed into hers she could read between the lines, knew how much it meant to him. He wanted her there, back at his side, where she belonged; where she had always belonged. Tears filled her eyes again, but this time, they were born from a feeling of happiness, so deep she hadn’t known she was still capable of anymore. 

“Yes,” she whispered and his lips spread into a wide, familiar grin. She was about to walk over to his box when he held her back by their still intertwined fingers. “I’m gonna win for you, Mist. You’ll know what it means.” His voice was loud enough for the microphones placed in the arena to pick up on it, but for some reason, she didn’t even care. She just nodded, gently caressing the back of his hand with her thumb, then she gave him a smile and let go. 

Arriving in his box she was greeted by not only Delia, who hugged her with tears in her eyes, and Rocko and Tracey, who did the same; but also other companions, like May and Dawn, who greeted her with open arms as well. “He was heartbroken,” Dawn whispered into her ear as they hugged, “He was never the same. I’m so glad you’re back together.”

She didn’t correct her that really, they weren’t back together, but for some reason she didn’t feel the need to.

It sounded right. 

___

Ash brought Pikachu over to his box before they started the match since he would only come in later, and the pokemon voluntarily took a seat in  _ her _ lap despite all the other people being there. Ash’s eyes caught hers once more and held onto them, and she blushed when he broke the contact, realizing she’d been caught on camera just staring into her ex-boyfriend’s eyes like a lovesick fool. 

When she fished her pokegear out of her purse to silence it she was met with so many notifications she needed a minute to scroll through them all. #Pokeshipping had trended on both twitter and tumblr, people had recorded her interaction with Ash and even though it hadn’t been more than 5 minutes, had made edits with their entwined hands, had put up video sequences of it; there were news pages analyzing their every look, every word. Overall, it was completely overwhelming and she was stuck with her mind going into overdrive, until Brock’s hand covered the display, interrupting her spiraling. 

“Do you care?”, he asked quietly, and she shook her head reflexively - she didn’t, not really. He nodded encouragingly and she shifted her attention to the field, where the match was about to begin. Pikachu grabbed one of her hands and held onto it, and so they both supported each other as it started. 

__

Pikachu left her lap about half an hour later. Things weren’t looking too good, Ash was on his last pokemon, but Pikachu was so energetic and confident Misty hadn’t lost faith yet. 

Both fought harder than ever before. Never in the years she’d known them had they fought with more determination, more resolution; it was like they were possessed. When Cynthia was down to her last pokemon it looked like Pikachu was about to lose, but when Ash asked him if he was okay he shouted something that Misty was sure had “Pikachupi” in it and kept going. 

Pikachu and Cynthia’s Garchomp fought like never before, and it was halfway through the fight that Misty finally realized what was happening, why Ash was back and what he was doing. 

Sure, it was his goal to become the Champ, it had always been; but there was something else as well, something that she only understood when she truly thought about the words he’d said when she had left the field - that he would win it for her. 

It wasn’t only his skills as a Pokemon Master that he was proving to her, he was also proving something entirely different: commitment. Not to the job -

to  _ her _ .

Being a Champ meant staying in Kanto, at the Indigo Plateau - staying with her. 

He was done running. He was ready to settle down. 

Suddenly, it was all clear, him taking on the league again, the first interview of him she’d seen -  _ “I had to prove something to myself first” _ \- it all made sense. 

Something in her heart settled into place.

She allowed herself to feel - truly feel - for the first time in forever. Not just the pain, the bad feelings, but the love, the happiness, the excitement; she let it all wash over her like a tidal wave, let them overrun her, pull her under and push her back up again, and when the high tide was over and low tide set in it cast her ashore, left her lying in the sand, clean and fresh and somehow more herself than before.

She was Misty Waterflower, and she loved him, Ash Ketchum, and she would fight for it with all she had.

It wasn’t that the heartbreak and the pain were forgotten, it was more that she was free of all left resentment, her wounds clean, and she could give herself the chance to heal - with him by her side.

She never wanted to miss him again.

And in the moment the last Iron Tail hit, hidden under the loud bang and following cheers, she murmured to herself:  _ “I love you, Ash.” _

_____

When the cloud of dust cleared the first visible opponent was Cynthia’s huge Garchomp, clearly defeated and unable to move. For a second, Misty was worried because she couldn’t see Pikachu, but then a flash of yellow caught her eyes... 

And there he was, Pikachu, obviously pretty beaten up, with scratches and bumbs - but standing. 

Ash and Pikachu had won. 

As Ash raced across the field to his partner the crowd practically lost it. Cheering, crying, shouting, and in the midst of it all, Misty - tears were running down her face as she stood there, stunned, unable to move. She got hugs from all around, Brock, Tracey, Delia, May and Dawn, and everyone told her they were happy for them - making her realize she was right. 

Everyone else had known before her, but who cared; the important part was that he wanted to be with her. Wanted to  _ settle _ with her.

In the meantime, Cynthia had made her way across the field, congratulated Ash and Pikachu heartily, and then left the disbelieving Trainer - Pokemon - duo behind to find her best friend.

The rest of Ash’s box pushed Misty down the stairs as her best friend approached, and so they hugged tightly while Cynthia murmured into her ear. 

“He really wants this, Misty. For you. You’ll be so good together.”

When they came out of the embrace Cynthia held her in place for a minute, searching for her eyes, for the truth. “Are you okay?”

“More than okay,” Misty whispered back, tears still streaming down her eyes but with a look that she knew spoke of nothing but happiness. Cynthia nodded, satisfied, and took a step to the side -

and there he was, Ash, Pikachu in his arms, smiling so brightly the sun should be ashamed to shine. “For me?” Misty asked, quietly, just to confirm what she already knew. 

“For you,” he nodded. There was longing in his eyes as they slipped down to her lips, but he hesitated.

Misty didn’t. 

It was like something had switched in her head, no, in her heart; suddenly, she knew what she felt, she was entire certain about what he felt, and she wanted the whole, Arceus-damned world to know. 

The moment their lips touched everything else moved into the background, faded, and then it was gone - all that was left was him and her, and Pikachu in the middle of them. She didn’t even perceive how at first, the entire stadium went so silent, they would’ve been able to hear a pin drop, and then collectively burst into cheers. And it didn’t matter, either. 

All that mattered was that she loved him. And that he loved her back. 

____

Within seconds after they broke the kiss, they were engulfed by their friends, cheering for and with them, and Misty was certain her cheeks had permanently taken on a deep red colour. She had taken Pikachu from his trainer, giving Ash the opportunity to hug them and talk to them, and felt her mended heart swelling at the pokemon happily nestling against her. 

Afterwards they were ushered out of the arena as it was being prepared for the grand ceremony. The small room they gave Ash to get ready was entirely to small for all their friends, but they pushed her in, and she was truly alone with Ash for the first time since their breakup. 

He held her in his arms, her head resting in the crock of his neck, and she was so happy it  _ hurt _ . 

“I’m so happy,” Ash said softly and Misty couldn’t trust her voice, just hummed in agreement. “I love you so much, Mist. I  _ missed _ you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, but I - I didn’t feel ready to stay in one place… Until Brock knocked some sense into me. That I haven’t been running to something, but from it. From  _ you _ .”

Misty pressed her face deeper into his shirt as he talked, smelling his scent, and cried softly. She didn’t particularly know why she cried - still, or again? - but she was done hiding her emotions. 

Then she felt Ash’s fingers on her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes, into the love shining there. “Can you forgive me?”

“You idiot,” she whispered back, “I already did.”


End file.
